The Emotional Life of the Toddler: Chapters 3 and 4

Welcome to the second week of the Ohdeedoh Book Club as we continue with the book The Emotional Life of the Toddler.

Lieberman cheerily starts out the chapter by informing us that "moderate conflicts [with your child] take place once every 3 minutes, and major conflicts occur at the rate of 3 per hour." How's that little nugget for a lovely way to start your day?

She continues by stating that the chapter is based on the premise that not every problem has an immediate solution and that she will not give us immediate solutions and quick fixes, but rather she will give us the information needed to have an "attitude" for understanding out child's actions and reasoning.

As in previous chapters, Lieberman goes on to emphasize the partnership that must be created between parent and child as she discusses how children put their feelings into words and the importance of parent and child to make up after a fight, "No matter how righteous a parent's anger, it is always frightening to the child. This fear cane be made more manageable by explaining how mommy or daddy felt, asking the child how he felt, and reassuring him that he is loved even when the parent is angry at him." She ends the chapter with more tips to encourage parent/child partnership.

Chapter 4 is very interesting in that Lieberman described the various temperaments children can have: easy, slow to warm up, difficult and active. She goes on to elaborate on how those temperaments tend to socialize.

These two chapters were definitely chock full. What do you make of Lieberman's labels in chapter 4? Do you think your child fits into one of these categories and do you agree with what she had to say about the category?